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Guardian Ethic
If you were to believe the shameless pandering during last night’s speeches, you’d begin to think that CMCers cared about one thing and one thing alone: partying. Now don’t get me wrong, I love raging and all. Nothing brightens my Thursday night like downing a forty of malt liquor and causing havoc. But I am pretty sure that if you throw a couple of kegs in the middle of north quad and call it a party, we’ll be able to manage. If you could come up with a half-assed theme, we’ll be all the merrier.
To be honest, I don’t think anyone in the history of the world has ever had a problem entertaining themselves when they were wasted. Frankly, I’d rather ASCMC focus on things that Jack Daniels and Jim Bean can’t already provide for me. For example, what if they tried bring more employers to our campus. With the economy tanking, we need CMC’s help finding internships and post-graduation employment more than ever. If ASCMC and the rest of our student government is to ever be anything more than fodder for the resumes of the over-ambitious it has to break the mold. Right now it is nothing more than a glorified party planning agency.
However, as long as these positions continue to be democratically elected, this is never going to happen. The only thing cool in our frat boy culture is those events associated with the killing of brain cells. Sadly, the only way to get our votes is to pretend like Sunday-Wednesday is an inconsequential portion of the week.
So in a sentence: the voters are idiots. Yeah I’m talking about you. It’s not the candidate’s fault that the only thing ever mentioned is alcohol; it’s our own damn fault. A democratic election is only as valuable as its constituent voters. A populace that is uniformly biased in one direction—in our case towards electing the most John Belushiesque candidate—cannot help but produce flawed results.
The only solution to this seemingly insoluble problem is to get rid of the democratic process all together. Let’s have an “elite” council of Guardians within ASCMC appoint the various positions. Those are the people who most understand the rigors of the job and who are best positioned to find the most qualified applicant.
Now, if this was instituted, I’m sure lots of people would bitch and moan. I got that covered don’t worry. All we would need is sham elections. ASCMC could just “count” the votes in such a way as to make sure their candidate wins. That way everyone ends up happy. We get the warm fuzzy feeling that our vote made a difference, while still electing those most qualified to lead our campus. Damn…this doesn’t even sound that bad. I am not so sure I am even joking anymore.
(Corrected: John, not Jim Belushi)
33 Comments
2009-03-02
23:34:17
i didn't think there was that much talk about parties except from the candidates whose sole job it is to throw parties (SAC and DAC)... but everyone's gotta mention parties, yes. you don't want to look like the most serious candidate or you won't win.
2009-03-02
23:38:22
why do i never get a mention in these articles? it's always jim and jack. hella unfair.
2009-03-02
23:56:45
Sounds like someone misses our classes with a certain professor Figdor...
2009-03-03
00:09:35
It's John Belushi
2009-03-03
00:26:46
Hmm, so democracy is not a perfect system.
2009-03-03
03:04:23
There's a reason Vons is always sold out of me, and it's not because I'm tasty
2009-03-03
10:39:48
Spencer, I think you've been taking your Plato a little too seriously. Yes, ideally the wise would rule, but a lot of bad shit has to happen for them to be in charge and once in charge they'll deprive us of many of our most important human desires. Besides, the many will never recognize or allow the wise to rule, and the wise themselves don't want to rule. Those who claim to be wise, as you know, aren't quite America's finest...
But you're right that ASCMC is nothing more than a "glorified party planning agency." Yesterday's elections were like The Office's Phyllis-Angela struggle writ large over the campus. We go on, electing self-important clowns who promise to "unite the campus" and "make this the best year of college." Of course, they have nothing to do with either, and the best thing they could do is leave us alone. So why exactly should we give these people more authority over real issues?
(By the way, to be the devil's advocate, doesn't the Forum itself count as a non-party function of ASCMC?)
2009-03-03
11:29:10
ASCMC spends roughly 10-20% of its budget on parties, if that. That's 80-90% of the money (and time, for the most part) spent on other things.
But it's true that nobody wants to hear about clubs and publications, Senate, student trips, IPTV, CMC Board of Trustees Committees, Yearbook, The Hub, etc.
And yes, the Forum is a non-party function, and my favorite non-party function
2009-03-03
12:45:24
To be honest with you, I really have no clue what ASCMC actually does. All I have to go on is what I hear from the speeches and I guess that's the point of this article to some extent. I don't blame them for only talking about parties, because that's all we want to hear about. However, the student body ends up voting on who we think will end up throwing the best parties, when in reality this is probably the least important facet of job.
2009-03-03
13:24:12
yeah, i dont mean to put down the importance of parties, events, concerts, trips, etc.... that is really a core function of ASCMC and the reason the school gives us ~$300k to spend every school year.
the most important reason for this, in my opinion, is to make sure the social life at cmc stays affordable and inclusive for everyone who wants to participate. if you don't want to participate, you don't have to, but you can't have your money back. if we were a different school, we'd have to pay $5+ to go to every party, movie night, concert, and we wouldn't have that badass "all-inclusive resort" aura that most of us love so much.
2009-03-03
13:19:50
Dear Spencer:
Your admission that you have "no clue what ASCMC actually does" is entirely your fault and it is inappropriate to blame your ignorance on the student government, especially in an environment such as Claremont McKenna. Sure, the single mother raising three children on four minimum wage jobs, fighting forclosure and a meth addiction in suburbia, might not have time to educate herself about the nuances of her state or national government. But we, college students, who make time for kegs and afternoons at the Scripps pool, surely could make the time to learn about our small and uncomplicated student government.
Your conclusion that we need to dispose of democratic processes at Claremont McKenna in favor of a "Guardian Ethic" in student government is not well thought out. Somewhat nonsensically, you argue that democratic processes do not work because your personal preferences are (supposedly) not well-reflected in the current system, "I’d rather ASCMC focus on things that Jack Daniels and Jim Bean can’t already provide for me..." Clearly, as you note, most people prefer that we plan parties. Who is to say that your boring preferences are more valuable than mine (assuming that I do prefer crazy parties)? So if you want to have lame parties, that's fine but what gives you the right to impose your will on me? Furthermore, you entered into this college knowing full well the political preferences (read preference to party over do something lame with our money), and need not have joined if you had a serious problem being outnumbered (I've heard the University of Chicago and some of the greater Ivy League schools are particularly boring alternatives, should you be interested).
Moreover, In the three years that I have been here, I have never seen your name on a ballot, nor have I seen you get up at snack and voice your opinions. If you care so much about your desired policy outcomes, why don't you run for office, talk to your class president, get more involved? Writing in The Forum is a good start, but this article uses an exposition of your own policy preferences to trash the democratic processes on campus. Democracy is not flawed at Claremont McKenna and your lack of participation in the system is indicative of the "Ivory Tower" nature of your argument.
Now, moving on to your criticism of the party culture in general. Personally speaking, I chose Claremont McKenna in large part because McKenna students have awesome social lives. Think about the possibility that parties like Smiley 80s and Slippery When Wet attract an incredible amount of applicants to this school because not only are we smart, but we can throw an amazing party. During my college visits as a senior in high school, I was never particularly impressed with sitting in a room downing shots of Jaegermeister. Hell, I could have done that in high school. In short, leave open the possibility that parties attract more students here, lower our acceptance rate, and enhance our reputation.
Another argument of yours is the need to divert scarce school funds to more academic things: " For example, what if they tried bring more employers to our campus. With the economy tanking, we need CMC’s help finding internships and post-graduation employment more than ever." Unfortunately for you, our Career Center is already one of the best in the nation and does an incredible amount of work to bring employers to the school. The internship program is amazing. We are one of the few schools in the nation that actually writes a check to its students to go do summer internships.
Returning briefly to summarize your first argument about democracy at CMC. Your argument boils down to this:
1. I don't want my student government to focus on party planning.
2. My student government focuses on party planning.
3. My student government is elected by way of democratic procedures.
4. Democratic procedures do not yield a result I like.
5. Democratic procedures are wrong.
Sounds a little selfish to me.
2009-03-03
13:21:47
Or, to be more to the point...
"I don’t blame them for only talking about parties, because that’s all we want to hear about. However, the student body ends up voting on who we think will end up throwing the best parties, when in reality this is probably the least important facet of job."
If we care most about parties, isn't party planning the most important "facet" of the job?
Cheers,
Al Koholik
2009-03-03
13:32:20
Or, Alexander, it could be the dismay that our school is such a bunch of raging alcoholics that all that matters is who will throw a good party, and that it's basically a shitshow of a popularity contest, perhaps?
Don't act so high-and-mighty because of your "three years of experience". When it comes down to it, that experience really doesn't mean jack. The truth is, for such a supposed smart group of people, there are a lot of real dumb-asses around here. When an ASCMC presidential nominee has to talk about "raging it", and another nominee (I forget what category) has to say, and I quote, "I had two or three shots before coming here", you know there's a little problem.
And you criticize, but off the top of your head, do you know everything ASCMC does? Highly unlikely...
2009-03-03
13:32:36
Woah, woah...take it down a notch. First of all, the tone of this article was meant to be primarily playful. I was by no means critical of anyone in specific, most of all not the candidates themselves. It takes a lot of courage to get in front of the whole campus and give a speech. That is an ability I greatly respect. If anything, I was jokingly ridiculing the campus at large.
Now you may disagree with me about the importance of the large parties and that's fine. I was just giving my opinion. I feel like I have the most fun just hanging out amongst my own group friends and I find the large gatherings over-rated. But again that's just me.
And your right it is my own fault that I have I no clue what ASCMC does. I haven't taken the time to get involved and for that the onus falls on no one but myself. But this article was just meant to be a joking commentary on how little we actually hear about those other functions that ASCMC does perform.
2009-03-03
13:34:18
"If we care most about parties, isn’t party planning the most important “facet” of the job?"
No, it's not the most important part of the job. We enjoy getting wasted and this makes the voters of this campus one issue voters. However ASCMC could instead throw more career fairs and things like that we would all be better off. Spencer is advocating for a more paternalistic ASCMC because frankly, we're gonna get trashed everything thursday through saturday no matter what ASCMC does. Hell if we wanted to we could just go to the career fairs wasted if we wanted to and we'd all be better off.
2009-03-03
14:31:58
Brian:
"Or, Alexander, it could be the dismay that our school is such a bunch of raging alcoholics that all that matters is who will throw a good party, and that it’s basically a shitshow of a popularity contest, perhaps?"
This is your opinion. While you are "dismayed" by this, there are clearly others that aren't.
Spencer:
"Now you may disagree with me about the importance of the large parties and that’s fine. I was just giving my opinion. I feel like I have the most fun just hanging out amongst my own group friends and I find the large gatherings over-rated. But again that’s just me."
Exactly. It's just your opinion that party planning is an inappropriate first priority for our student government. Key word: opinion. I have mine, you have yours. Who is to say who is "right" or "wrong?" Both are merely preferences. Your guardian ethic takes your preference and elevates it to "right." I say democracy is the best way of determining whether party planning is the correct course of action for ASCMC.
Rawls:
"ASCMC could instead throw more career fairs and things like that we would all be better off. "
Again, you are basically saying that your view of what ASCMC should do is the RIGHT one. Any departure from democracy (including paternalism) is going to be a threat to a respect for diversity of opinion. Maybe "we would all be better of" if ASCMC were to throw more Christian events. OR if ASCMC were to "encourage us to do the right thing" by subsidizing conversion camps for homosexuals. OR if ASCMC were to bring in Army Recruiters to speak at all events, to spread the good word about joining the military. Your "we'd all be better off" is an extremely slippery slope.
I'm all saying to all of you is that your opinion's minority status is not a ground on which to launch an attack against democratic procedure. We can agree to disagree about whether party planning is good or bad. Out of necessity, we have to decide these things at the polls. You might call it sad, some excited freshman might call it awesome. Who are you to say that they are wrong and you are right? Doing away with democracy and encouraging paternalism is opening the door to ANY kind of paternalism, not just your "lets wean our campus off of alcohol."
2009-03-03
14:36:04
I'd just like you guys to take a minute to distinguish between criticism of the party culture and criticism of democracy. You can say what you want about the culture, it might suck, but take your opinions to the polls...dont' use it to criticize democratic procedure. K?
2009-03-03
14:43:24
Spencer, one more thing:
"But this article was just meant to be a joking commentary on how little we actually hear about those other functions that ASCMC does perform."
I agree, we do hear nothing about the other functions and it might be sad. But the main point and title of your article was the Guardian Ethic, not a critique of the party culture. Your furthering of paternalistic causes runs contrary to the liberty and freedom for which our forefathers struggled...and for which we continue to struggle every day of our lives.
2009-03-03
16:34:11
"yeah, i dont mean to put down the importance of parties, events, concerts, trips, etc…. that is really a core function of ASCMC and the reason the school gives us ~$300k to spend every school year.
the most important reason for this, in my opinion, is to make sure the social life at cmc stays affordable and inclusive for everyone who wants to participate. if you don’t want to participate, you don’t have to, but you can’t have your money back. if we were a different school, we’d have to pay $5+ to go to every party, movie night, concert, and we wouldn’t have that badass “all-inclusive resort” aura that most of us love so much."
A. I don't think that it is entirely true that the school just "gives us" $300k. Each student is billed for "Student Activities" which I'm sure a part of it is used for that.
B. TNC is one of many events but is THE event that occurs weekly when people plan ahead. The only people that DO goto TNC's are the same select few. So I guess it is the fault of others to not go and take advantage of it. But I think there's a good reason why it's always the same few people getting the perks of TNC while others don't. Starting from the exclusive clique of people that goto TNCs to the people giving out the alcohol, there is something to be said about really how open TNCs are. I'm also sure that many people feel the same way. Either ASCMC is a student government run by and for certain group of friends and cliques, or it just hasn't seen it this way before.
Just throwing this out there to see what people think (:
2009-03-03
16:47:39
Thanks we will def keep that thought about tnc in mind. Also, tnc is very cheap, relative to other things we do
2009-03-03
16:46:50
Our student government is illegitimate and ineffective. It is using CampSec to oppress us on weekends. Last weekend such an officer made me pour out my drink. Let's march!
2009-03-03
17:00:34
The earth isn't the center of the universe and neither are you Spencer Kline.
2009-03-03
17:04:35
This proposed form of student government will most certainly devolve into tyranny.
2009-03-03
17:26:06
Alexander, I think the bottle is clouding your judgment. Clearly you're just looking for fascist party planning regime.
2009-03-03
17:41:04
Alexander, you're so intense.
2009-03-03
18:23:27
I, for one, approve of this fine institutions' focus on the throwing of massive orgies.
Gaius Julius Caesar "Caligula" Augustus Germanicus
2009-03-03
21:48:21
Agree with just a thought. Why not throw a better party now and then, and have TNC every other week? The kids of CMC will find ways to drink anyways, why not save a little money, and put together better parties at other times? Since TNC has definitely become something that the same select few go to over and over...
2009-03-03
22:45:11
Brian, you have clearly lost sight of what is important. This conversation is about democracy, not parties! Spencer has shamelessly paved the road to fascism with his ill-conceived ideas of paternalism in government. Don't allow him to lure you in with his promises for boring parties. Take your disagreement to the polls, but don't use it to destroy the polls themselves! PS: I thought we went to CMC and not BYU, so if Spencer wants to kill his own social life through abstention from alcohol, let him leave our college rather than destroy what makes it great.
2009-03-03
23:24:14
Alexander:
Your conception of Fascism is deeply flawed. A Fascist regime in our student government will arise from the popular election of candidates who turn beliefs about an ideal nature for our student body into a movement to exclude those who do not fit into these notions. Your notions in particular regarding the nature of CMCers as people who participate in parties and drink alcohol are the very ones which our elected officials have and will invoke to unite us into a society centered around an arbitrary ideal of the individual. It is popular sovereignty in particular, a student government which idealizes the particular virtues of the majority, which will lead to the purging of those who do not consider the throwing of parties to be so important. Spencer Kline has presented the only line of defense between us and such a descent into Fascism. If we continue to allow ourselves to be ruled by the majority we will soon be destroyed.
V
2009-03-04
00:48:15
Oh, chill Alexander. That was a direct response to "Just a Thought". I was just using this as a side discussion on how heavily the party atmosphere impacts people around here. Too much, for my liking. Though I don't think ASCMC should have anything to do with it. I figure let them go about business as they have been.
2009-03-05
01:38:48
...and I am probably one of the few people on this campus who have, cover to cover. I think Spencer is not seriously promoting a Guardian Ethic, but rather is asking us to take a look at CMC and the role of our student government. He is clearly having a laugh in the process. It surprises me that at a school like ours declared "hottest in an election year", that few people actually know the mission and goals of ASCMC. I think over time we have strayed away from the representative capacity of ASCMC, that is in part because CMCers are very cynical about such attempts and partially because most students do no believe ASCMC actually represents them or their interests. What can be done about this? Students miraculously need to start caring, but the responsibility also falls on ASCMC officials to educate us about what our options are. If our officers presented the actual procedures outlined in the constitution and did everything to serve more like trustee of ASCMC then we would be more better off. The problem is ASCMC is very secretive (maybe too strong a word) about what it does and it tends to be a popularity contest even once in office (dissent is seen as merely a time waster), and to dampen matters, students do nothing to call their leaders out. That was not the case at CMC decades ago.
Another, issue is the election process, someone suggested a presidential debates like at many other colleges around the country. Our elections process limits the amount of words one can post on the forum, allows candidates 2 minutes to describe their plans, allows candidates to spend $40 to promote their campaign and prevents the use of email, facebook etc. The point is, there is no incentive for a candidate to talk about anything substantive. At a school this small, it is like convincing a mob to love you rather than discussing issues.
Party Planning is important and it accounted for in the document. In fact, 5 out of the 7 (DAC, SLC, SAC, and Class Presidents) elected positions are directly evolved with putting together social events as their primary functions. The CO Chair is charged with manging roughly 25% of the budget which goes to clubs and so forth. Then there are a couple big items like yearbook, concerts (no included in general parties), and madrigals etc.
My critique, is that ASCMC has become to narrow focused about what social events mean and they do not flex their muscle when it comes to campus issues. That is because students DO NOT tend to to see ASCMC as vehicle to lobby the administration and because ASCMC (and its officers) do little to promote that capacity. For example, the DAC can be about TNC but also about throwing a dorm room competition, shed light on dorm issues, or have a professor speak to a dorm causally every semester, this used to be a tradition. ASCMC would respond with, well if dorm presidents wanted to they could make that happen, well how do they know they could do that. The same argument comes to club leaders, many clubs do not spend their money, ASCMC cuts funding and says well it is their fault. But did ASCMC do enough to make the system easy to understand.
Just some thoughts.
2009-03-05
09:46:50
Whlie many of the criticisms here are fair, a few of them are understandably misinformed. Many people, for example, fail to realize that event-planning is merely the most visible function of ASCMC, though certainly not the most important or the only. The confusion is understandable, as the other functions remain largely out of sight. These important functions typically fall to the executive members of ASCMC (the ones not tasked with event planning). As a result, they rarely have an interest in publicizing their behind-the-scenes advocacy, because they are usually seniors. They will not be seeking another office, and will soon leave the campus altogether. They do their work, advocate for their constituents, and then graduate.
The trustee committees are the most crucial forum for this advocacy. Last year, there were serious security concerns at CMC events. There was no money to divert to security efforts, because budgets were already being stretched (almost every club and organization received significantly less funding than they requested). As a result, the executive officers sought, lobbied for, and successfully enacted a small increase in the student fee. Almost every cent of the increase went to increased security efforts. The rest alleviated an already-stretched budget for student groups and activities. To me, this is a classic example of the student government fulfilling its Guardian Ethic. Student events were not safe, and the student went through the proper channels, fought against resistance, and enacted policy to resolve the situation.
Let's also not forget the new no-loan financial aid policy; student government officers sat on both trustee committees that approved the policy change, and all of them stood resolutely behind the proposal.
When there were concerns about housing (a battle that still goes on), the five students on the Student Affairs trustee committee passionately and articulately voiced constituent opinions. The longest-serving member of the committee (who has since passed away) applauded the students, remarking that he had never witnessed such vocal and fervent student advocates.
When Madrigal was canceled, student government officers called together the powers-that-be, pushed, prodded, insisted, and eventually succeeded in keeping the tradition alive; without ASCMC, Madrigal would have died.
These are just a few of the examples of ASCMC's advocacy from the last couple years. Few of them received any public attention, even in the tiny, gossip-spreading atmosphere of CMC. Why? Because it's the job of the student government to advocate for students -- not to brag about it. Perhaps ASCMC should be better about informing constituents of its activities, but it's difficult. Remember that these representatives are also full-time students, that they leave campus over the same breaks as you, and that they have only a couple of years (sometimes only one year) to enact policies.
2009-03-05
10:06:05
I'd just like to point out the irony of a guy calling himself Al Koholik defending the raging party culture, while completely ignoring the other aspects of ASCMC that really do deserve criticism.
"Do you wish people would mind their own business about your drinking-- stop telling you what to do?" --aa.org